Summer- Ocean Fun!

Summer is at its peak and there is no better way to cool off than to dive straight into the ocean. Well, I cant do that literally, thanks to the landlocked city that I stay in but there are other ways to feel better about it. And one such way is to do an ocean study with the little ones! Ha Ha... I think this kind of thinking is called positive thinking and sometimes it can make you happy.

We took out one of our favorite ocean books - "The Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle and dived straight into learning all about crabs.

We practiced retelling the story with the puppets.

We also added some math into our unit and sang "Five Little Crabs" by Dr Jean.

We made a 'C' shaped crab and did some math sums.

It was a short study but surely a fun one!

Check out other activities that we did with the book "The Hermit Crab" by clicking HERE.

10 fun and engaging activities for the summer holidays!

The summer heat has become unbearable and to step out of the house is really not an option. So how do we keep our little ones occupied constructively to avoid the learning loss? I have gathered 10 super easy ideas for you all to try, in the comfort of your home. All of them have been kid tested and approved, so you wouldn't have to worry about them not being a hit with your kids. They are low prep and wouldn't consume too much of your time.

Make puppets! Always works with kids and they can be used for story retelling or singing or enacting. In this picture, we made pig noses after reading "The Three Little Pigs". We used egg cartons, painted them with pink paint, attached ribbons and then

pretended to be pigs.

Dinosaur fossils will get your little paleontologists super excited . Read THIS POST on how to make them.

Nothing like the old charm of pretend play and kids thrive on it. Set up a dramatic play area for your kids-whatever they fancy, doctor's clinic, a pizzeria, an ice cream vendor etc. Click 

HERE to read more about it.

Get your little chefs to come up with recipes of edible animals. Here we made a spider with Oreo cookies, M&M's and chocolate sticks.

Do a letter match with magnetic letters. Put up an alphabet sheet on the fridge and let children match the magnetic letters. Get your alphabet sheets from HERE.

Keep the hot temperatures down by freezing some ice cubes with paint and letting children paint with them. It will give them a great sensory kick!

Another amazing idea to beat the summer heat is to make blue colored jell-o with the kids. Involve them while making the jell-o. Add gummy fish or fish crackers to turn it into an ocean snack.

Make a huge cutout of a cow and attach a rubber glove at the back. Make tiny holes in the rubber glove and pour some milk from the opening. Teach children to milk the cow. Great activity to teach new vocabulary words like udder and concepts of how the milk reaches us from the farm.

Books are the best boredom buster. Read several books and invite children to become authors and create their own stories using simple story maps. You will be amazed by their creativity.

Invite children to make words with magnetic letters-real and nonsense words should be allowed. In the picture below, I gave the little boy a muffin tray and lots of letters to play with and make his own words. This really promotes thinking and encourages children to read words without any pressure.

Hope you find the ideas useful. If you try them out, do let me know.

Sight Word Musical Chair Game!

 End the boredom of your kids by playing the musical chair sight word game. Its a low prep game and all you need is few chairs, some paper to write the words on and music. The kinesthetic learners will have a blast with this game as they will get an opportunity to move around while learning. And the best part is that nobody loses as children will get to sit on different chairs with different words, every time the music plays. 

Just play the music and let children move around the chairs. Once the music stops they have to sit on the nearest chair and read the word. Continue till the game holds children's interest.

You can replace sight words with any concept that you want to focus on- numbers, alphabet, blends etc.

 

A quick indoor game for the hot summer days. Play it and make learning fun!

Oceans of Fun!

I know I have ignored my little blog for a long time now but I was caught up in setting up my own workplace so this little baby suffered in the meanwhile. But I am settled and I promise that I will share a lot more stuff that I have been up to with little kids. And I must confess that I did squeeze in a beach holiday this summer break. So it wasn't all work and no play!

And since my beach obsession continued even after the holiday, I incorporated some ocean activities while teaching the little ones. According to me a beach/ ocean unit is the perfect thing to do during summers.

I started off with this sweet activity which will be a super hit with the little ones. And don't be surprised if it gets devoured in a minute, You need :

Blue/green jello to represent the ocean. 

Fish gummy candy or fish shaped crackers 

 A glass to set the jello in.  

I let the little one to mix the jello and water. Once the jello is semi set you can add the gummy fish.

 Voila! Its done. Simple and easy and a quick fix for those hot sweltering days!

We also played a fun math game with the goldfish crackers. The child has to throw a coin on the number wheel and take out the corresponding number of gold fish. Children get excited to eat the fish but before they eat the goldfish, ask them to count all the goldfish they have taken out. Its a great counting activity. 

We explored the scuba diving equipment and made a scuba diver craft.

All the activities had a fun element to them but learning took place too! So have fun trying out these activities with your little ones if you are stuck indoors in this maddening heat. 

End Of School Year

The school year is about to come to an end for most of you out there and the excitement to welcome the summer break is surely in the air!

I know this feeling so well, but hang on, don't give up! I can hear the summer birds chirping right in my ear...

But no matter how run out one feels , this is the most nostalgic time of the year and its always difficult to let go of those cute munchkins that one has spent the entire year with.

With a little planning, we can avoid the year end burn out. I have created a pack with some essential stuff that every teacher likes to use at the end of the year.

Read below to find out more about the activities and the fun you can have with the kiddos.

Start a countdown before the last 10 days of school.

Cut apart the number cards and attach them to a ribbon. Everyday remove one card and see how many more days are left in school.

Award your kids with these cute certificates.

Fill out a memory page about kindergarten. 

To build excitement about the new grade, ask children what they would like to learn in grade 1. Share their work with their grade 1 teachers. It would help them to know a bit about the kids.

Discuss summer plans with the children. Initiate a discussion using the interactive chart.

Read the emergent reader: "In the summer..."

 

Do a summer craft. Ask children to draw what they would like to do in the summers.

Ask them to write what they enjoy most about summers.

Grab all these activities from HERE 

 

If  you are looking for more activities then view this product too!

 

Click HERE to learn more about it.

Use these activities, have fun and end this year without any stress !